Take me to the fair!

Every year we go the local G.D.S. fair in our little town of Newfoundland. It is conveniently right down the road from our house and is our "last hurrah" of summer. Who could pass up free banana spits, french fries with vinegar (Dad's favorite), animals to pet, blue ribbon vegies, and as many rides as your stomach can handle? Who knows, maybe we'll go back again this week when Dad comes home from working in Seattle.
"Hi" Mr. Ed!

"Can I take one home?"

Where else can you find dancing pierogies?

Happy 10th birthday Audrey! We celebrated by heading over to Pittsburgh for a little camping and a Pirates baseball game. We also got so see the band Smash Mouth and fireworks which followed the game. We're not sure if we go for the baseball, the food, or the dancing pierogies. I think Tim and I were there for the baseball, Becky was definitely there for the food, Audrey was there for the cool Pirates clothes she got as a birthday present, Celeste and Sophia were there for the dancing pierogies (see picture below), and Natty was there for the parrot mascot. Fun was had by all! Dancing Pierogies! I had never heard of a pierogi until I moved to the East Coast. They are semi-circular dumplings of dough stuffed with mashed potatoes, onion and pepper. Very tasty!The Birthday Girl!

"N" is for Natty

Natalia took her first steps last week. She took her time, now 16 months old. But, she did it on her time. That seems to be her motto, "whatever Natty wants, Natty gets". Typical baby of the family! Spoiled rotten!
Who won, Natalia or dinner? Audrey said, "no need for a costume this year, Natalia is ready for Halloween" Straight to the bath for you little girl!

"J" is for Jo Mama

My sister asked me once, "I love to hear about the kids, but what is going on in Jolie's life?" I think, "well, my life are my kids" but I guess I do have a life outside of carpooling, diaper changing, and laundry. Here are some things I have been up to lately...

I looked out to my garden and what did I see? A "J" shaped cucumber looking at me! I call this my early birthday garden gift. This is for real. I thought it was pretty cool (as a cucumber). We've also enjoyed tomatoes, eggplant, and lettuce this year.

Robins took up residence in my hanging baskets. It was fun to see them build the nests, lay the eggs, take care of the babies, and watch them fly away.

I became a dog breeder this year, unexpectedly. Our female Brittany became pregnant. We didn't notice until we saw puppies in her dog house! She had 10 pups, 3 died, I sold 6 and we kept one.The big landscaping project! We knocked down trees, took out boulders and stumps and picked rocks out of the dirt (that was the kids' job...you an imagine how much they loved that!) We brought in truck load after truck load of dirt, raked, seeded, planted, mulched. I wish I could find a before picture. But the whole front was uneaven and full of stumps, boulders, and weeds.

"Fly Away", disco queen, and a few forgotton pics

Sophia says, "who are you and what have you done with my big sister?"

After my last post , I realized Becky had pictures from our trip on her camera that I hadn't seen yet. She captured some moments that I didn't, so I thought I'd add them here. Who wouldn't want to see Vanessa's swimming disco move or a couple of the many cows we "met". I also forgot to add our theme song for the trip, "Fly Away" by Tim McGraw. Every time we heard it we'd see who could sing it loudest on our walkie talkies (5 of us in the truck, 2 in the camper). "1,2,3 like a bird I sing, for you've given me the most beautiful set of wings!" Sing along here: http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/window/media/page/listen/0,,4021244,00.html

say, Ahhhhhh

Watch out...Becky's at the wheel! A typical view outside the car windowLiberty Jail, Independence, MO

Terre Haute, IN

On the Road Again

Here are some pictures of our trip. We traveled I80 from Pennsylvania to Provo, UT. Then dipped down to I70 to go back home. We saw a lot, we drove A LOT, laughed a lot, slept some, and then got up each morning to do it all again. We took our 5th Wheel camper and stayed at campgrounds throughout the country. We stopped at some memorable places. Here is are some highlights...Newfoundland, PA to Cleveland OH (ate fudge and played in the pond with a big slide) to Peru, IL (lighting and thunder all night rocked the camper, we woke up to puddles up to our knees) to Omaha, NE (Winter Quarters temple, visitors center, dressed like pioneers) to Cheyenne, WY (marshemello roast, watch all the cowboys go by for Frontier Days) to Provo UT (Celeste 7th birthday party, horseback riding in Santaquin, camped with Zeb, Alisha, Katie and Sydneee, met up with Nancy and boys at Temple Square, bought a new generator - the old one blew up on the way to Provo, hiked Mt. Timpanoogos to Stewart Falls, Jolie drove Vanessa's car (if you've seen this car, you know how scary this is...she forgot to tell me the driver's side door spontaneouly opens at any given moment...and it did for me, luckily the seat belt caught me before I tumbled out!) to Richfield, UT (Manti temple, nightly family walk and playing on the playground at the KOA) to Moab, UT (Arches National Park, Becky driving Dad's truck for a few minutes) to Limon, CO (beautiful mountains near Vail despite drivng through the rainstorm) to Kansas City, MO (BBQ yum!, Independence, MO visitors Center, Liberty Jail, traded in our camper for one that fits us a little better (good bye Charlene, Hello Sylvia) to Terre Haute, IN (fed donkeys at the campground) to Pittsburg, PA (met a german couple who wanted to take pictures of our camper. They don't have 5th wheel trailers in Germany.) to Hershey, PA (planned on going to Hershey park, but the temperature was in the high 90's and everybody was ready to go home. So we left a day early, promising the kids we will go back again in the Fall.) to HOME! We had a blast, swimming at every stop, and learing so much a long the way about different places as well as ourselves.

Winter Quarters Monument, Florence, NE

Dressing as pioneers, Winter Quarters Visitors Center

Typical evening on the trip. Dinner in Cheyenne, WY

Acting out the Nativity, Church History Museum (Audrey, Celeste, Sophia, and Katie)David and Natty, Church History Museum SLC, UT "I Am a Child of God" exhibitAlisha and Zeb, they were teaching us how to ride! Santaquin, UT CanyonsCeleste loves horses! Santaquin, UTManti TempleTim and Jolie Arches National ParkBalanced Rock Arches National Park Natty at Windows ArchThe back seat drivers, Celeste and Sophia

Our New Camper "Sylvia"

Our first post

Well, after setting up this blog about a month ago. I decided we'd better have at least one post. I was hoping to have pictures with it, but that will have to wait for post #2. Suffice it to say, we started and there is so much to tell. I guess I'll start with where we are now, which is in Hershey, PA. We are finishing up our 3 week trip from Newfoundland, PA (our home town) to Provo, UT and back again. We are on the back again and are 3 hours from home. We are excited to get home again. It was an awesome trip. But, life as we know it calls again...preseason soccer practices, back to school shopping, and of course, work. It was a nice change of pace. I think Celeste said it best the other day..."when are we going to be home? I miss my bed!" Please tune in again for the update of our trip and pictures to boot.